


Round and Round

by allhailgrilledcheesus



Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Blood and Injury, Emotional Manipulation, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Yoglabs, the warning stuff happens really near the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-03
Updated: 2015-10-27
Packaged: 2018-04-24 15:15:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 13,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4924579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allhailgrilledcheesus/pseuds/allhailgrilledcheesus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>YogLabs was Xephos's home now. There was no reason for him to care about the outside world, right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Problems

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to the wonderful Amy for beta-ing this ! She doesn't have a tumblr because she deleted hers but I wanted to show my appreciation anyway!

Xephos was doing his usual rounds. It was a tiresome job running this hulk of a facility but someone had to do it. The hellish bureaucratic state the Government left it in before Xephos acquired it made each day a little bit harder than it needed to be. But who could turn their nose up at some state of the art equipment that was neglected for years? Most definitely not Xephos. He was more of a man who needed a project otherwise he could be crawling up the walls, literally.

The distant sound of machinery accompanied the sound of Xephos’ boots echoing in military precision off the aseptic walls. Some things just don’t leave you, no matter how hard you try. The white washed walls were lost to him as he walked with his nose in his clipboard. Numbers and graphs met his eyes in a mess of colour and analysis. Some things needed changing but nothing too drastic. The clones were in simulation and that was where they needed to be.

A loud squealing was heard from around the corner of the corridor. It seemed as if it was coming from just inside the coffee room. A sigh and an eye roll later, he was walking towards the source of the interruption. How was he supposed to do anything when things like this were always going wrong? What met his eyes was a sight to see. A clone had managed to get out and was sitting in the middle of the coffee room floor, surrounded by cookies screaming something about jaffa cakes and how some guy called Lewis should help him because something was terribly and deeply wrong with this place. Xephos scoffed and wrote a note on his clipboard for further investigation where clone #412 had come from and why his simulation ended early. The new name was different though. Most of the time all he had to do was remind the clones where they were and they would return to normal and behave like any good clone would. This one, however, required two of the Peace Officers to be called to protect Xephos from the attacks that ensued after his explanation and the resulting indignation of the clone. Xephos scribbled more notes down on his clipboard and asked for it to be sent to his own personal laboratory for analysis. This was something he could not let the usual employees, if one could call them that, get their hands on. This was a serious threat to the cloning programme as the master clone may have been altered. After last time, no one was allowed in that room.

Xephos finished off his rounds to the faces of smiling clones. A displacement of air around him told him that either Ridgedog or Kirin had tried getting in again to tell him about the outside world. Xephos had no time for trivial pursuits. The fate of YogLabs was in his hands once again and this new problem needed to be nipped in the bud as soon as possible. The clones always looked so peaceful during simulation. The fact that one died every time an old world was destroyed in favour of a new one with different selection pressures meant nothing to Xephos. As long as the masters were intact, none of this mattered. They were his pride and joy.

During his walk to his lab, Xephos had the chance to think about everything that was happening around him. The government still were not off his back about stealing equipment. He did not steal anything. It wasn’t his fault that this facility was left to its own devices after the funding ran out from the taxpayer. This whole facility was run through duct tape and sheer will power, but that was how he liked it. The dripping of coolant and the distant honking of testifcates told Xephos that this was his destiny: that this was meant for him. His whole life he had wanted to do something great and YogLabs was his opportunity to do so. He had spent years running after adventure but to no avail. Everything that he had ever built had gone to waste due to one thing or another. War, taint, gods who cannot keep their noses out of other people’s business – they meant nothing here. Only he was the leader and he could do as he pleased. His hubris, at some point in the past, may have scared him, but now it only made him feel stronger.

The tall alien’s stream of thought was interrupted by finding one of the specially designed clones had walked into his chest. Green eyes looked up at him with confusion at seeing Xephos’s countenance looming over him. The master clones, each with their own unique abilities, allowed for specific grooming of clones to create workers at very little cost. An even more focused and scientific version of Will Strife started getting flustered and apologetic for bumping unceremoniously into his superior. The green of the shorter man’s freckles started to show obviously with his embarrassment. Xephos probably should have felt bad for cloning one of his own with the same protocol as Minecraftians but it was essential for the running of YogLabs. Strife’s knowledge was too precious to not have on hand. There was the added bonus of having someone who understood the intricacies of having an alien on a foreign planet around so that Xephos didn’t feel too misunderstood or homesick all of the time. The fact that Strife believed he willingly came into the fold at YogLabs instead of being an experiment didn’t affect Xephos in the way that he thought it should have.

‘Oh, Xephos! Sir, I am so sorry! I did not see you there, I was just making my way over to the – ‘

Xephos just scoffed, ‘Don’t worry, friend, it was my fault. My nose was far too engrossed with the clipboard to notice you walk into me!’ The smile that accompanied was as genuine as he could muster. Smiling was something that did not come naturally to Xephos anymore, so the fact Strife was too flustered to notice anything added to his facade of contentment.

‘Oh, well, if you insist. Uh, remember when you said to tell you if anything weird was happening down in the archives?’ Strife was in charge of the dimensional technology that ensured that all of YogLab’s research was convenient to find for those allowed to see, but impossible to locate for certain prying eyes.

Xephos stopped smiling immediately and returned his face to his usual apathetic expression, but the fact his cheeks had started to glow alerted his subordinate to the fact that he had to say the right things in the right way to ensure that his boss, and past friend, was not going to get angry, and when Xephos got angry, people didn’t get seen again.

‘Well, uh, oh my, we may need to get someone with more magic experience than me down there because there is a very angry and very loud demi-god demanding your attention’ Strife twiddled with his thumbs and avoided meeting the ice cold eyes of the taller man. Xephos rubbed his temple with his free hand, looked down at the clipboard in the other and sighed.  
‘Which one is it this time?’ He knew that he needed to see to the faulty clone but he was currently detained much in the same way as the only other faulty clone in YogLabs. Therefore, he had the time but not necessarily the patience to deal with a pesky demi-god and broken magic.

‘It’s Ridgedog,’ Strife flinched and took a minute step away from Xephos. Ridgedog and Xephos had a history that Strife did not want to be a part of.


	2. Annoyance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Xephos has to investigate what's happening, with the help of two 'employees'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God I can't write summaries ;-;

‘Ugh!’ Xephos span on his heel and started striding towards the entrance to the archives. Strife squeaked in surprise and a green blush started to spread across his face. He knew that he needed to follow Xephos otherwise he would never find his way to the area where Ridgedog was. It was very deep in the archives in a new area that had just recently been spawned in to create more storage, so there was only a weak magic barrier to ensure that the Government couldn’t find it. However, weak magic was no match for a powerful and angry demi-god. Ridgedog had found his way into the newly spawned chamber.

On his way to the rail system, implemented by clones of a certain pair of brothers (Xephos briefly spared a thought for how far they would have gone before dying of exhaustion), Xephos used one of the com panels that were scattered along the corridors of YogLabs and asked for a mage to be sent to the new sector of the archives. Strife was only a few seconds behind him but he still couldn’t tell whether Xephos was angry or just inconvenienced.  
Strife caught up to Xephos mildly out of breath, he was a scientist not a runner after all, and punched in the destination to the rail system. The system itself ran on a combination of computers and luck. The magic involved in the creation of the new areas of the archives sometimes messed with the way in which the tracks aligned themselves.It was a risk that anyone wanting to go into the archives needed to take. People sometimes never returned but it was something no one spoke about. Xephos never mentioned it, so no one ever mentioned it. The tracks hadn’t yet been placed all the way down to the new area but there was a track that lead to an adjacent area. They would need to walk the rest of the way. Strife wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing, to allow Xephos to cool off, or a bad thing, to allow Xephos to ruminate on the fact the Ridgedog had made his way back into YogLabs again. Kirin only tried when he thought that no one was looking, even though someone always was. Ridgedog took advantage of the fact that he didn’t need sleep and was constantly trying to access the facility. It allowed for more research into the defence against god-magic, something Xephos didn’t want to discourage.

The minecart ride was long and awkward. Xephos stayed stony-faced and silent throughout all of it. The tracks were thankfully very well lit. That was something that Xephos insisted on. Lights were essential for ensuring the safety of YogLabs so that no monsters could make their way in and turn the facility into what it was before Xephos decided to save it. Strife was appreciative of this measure.He had never got on very well with the dark. Bad experiences from a past life still echoed strong within Strife’s memories. He had to physically shake the thoughts from his brain. Xephos didn’t notice.

They both finally arrived in the new area to find a new member had join the team, if one could call it that. The mage that Xephos had requested had arrived before them, probably using teleportation. Yoglabs only let one brand of magic work inside so that no one could enter and no one could leave. The warding magics that were used were specific to an old institution that Xephos had merged into YogLabs.The Magic Police were one a noble band of mages who fought for justice during feudal Minecraftia, but as the age of technology was beckoned in, they became redundant.Many people realised that most jobs could be done by using science instead of magic, reducing the amount of effort exerted to a minimum. This meant that the Magic police became two, and now only one. His magic was enough to keep things at bay; Xephos had specifically cloned him to be the strongest mage that the world had ever seen (whilst being amiable enough to actually do what Xephos asked him to do.) This did have some rather annoying side effects of clinginess, but Xephos was willing to put up with it, so long as the strong mage would do exactly what he wanted, when he wanted it, and how he wanted it done. 

Sjin stood in between some chests hugging his spell book close to his breast, looking terrified at the cobwebs despite the fact that there were hundreds of torches for miles around. A cough from Xephos earned a startled squeal from the mage. Strife had to stifle in a giggle but Xephos seemed unperturbed by the embarrassing display. Sjin being of elven blood had a natural predisposition towards magic and, with Xephos’s genetic engineering, he gave both demi-gods a run for their money.

‘Xephos!’ Sjin jumped up to greet both men, ‘I thought I told you to stop doing that!’  
Probably, in a past life, Xephos would have laughed and joked about how Sjin was being a wuss and carry on with whatever they were working on together. But this wasn’t the same Xephos, and this wasn’t even Sjin, just a genetically engineered shell that looked and acted similar to Sjin. It was hard to remember that sometimes, but it was essential to allow distancing between Xephos and his creations. Now, however, Xephos just got straight to the point.

‘Strife, lead the way’, Xephos ordered, not maliciously but in a tone of voice that made the other men wince slightly. Xephos despite his showing of a lack of emotion his voice could send shivers down anyone’s spine. Strife straightened out his waistcoat and grabbed one of the torches from the wall. The average area had three times as many torches than what was needed so taking one was alright for the most part, as long as you put it back after. Somehow, Xephos could tell when an area was dimmer than it used to be. Raising the torch above his head, he lead the way around the maze of the archives towards the newly generated area. Sjin kept as close to Xephos as he dared and toyed with the idea of summoning his own ball of light to keep everything as well lit as he could. He didn’t like fighting and the archives always gave him a feeling of unease that he could never shake off. He decided against the light in the end to try and prove to Xephos that he wasn’t afraid. The relationship between the mage and the alien was fickle and one-sided. Little did he know that Xephos would have probably appreciated the extra light. He was much more nervous than he wanted to make out. Ridgedog was someone he didn’t want to see right now, especially considering he had a rogue clone to contend with.

It took the three men about an hour to get to the newly generated area. Xephos made a note to generate some new clones to expand the rail system out. It seemed as if about three years’ worth of archives were not connected to the rail system. When they arrived they found Ridgedog just outside the barrier floating whilst lying down on his back, restlessly throwing a ball in the air like a bad 90s film. Xephos asked Sjin to drop the barrier so that he could walk through and talk to the demi-god. Sjin nervously muttered the spell under his breath and created a hole large enough for the tall man to exit the protection of the barrier. Sjin had a bad feeling about this, but it seemed that he had a bad feeling about everything. Strife stood leaning against a chest trying to act as nonchalant as possible. One of the advantages of it being so well lit around here is that the alien’s green glow was hidden from prying eyes. The two men watched, worrying about what was going to happen to Xephos.  
‘Oh, so the great and marvellous Xephos finally deigns to show his magnificent face to the lowly demi-god deep down in the depths of his archives’, Ridgedog spat, still throwing the ball in the air like a petulant teenager.

The rhythmic landing of the ball back in Ridgedog’s hand was like Chinese water torture to Xephos. He tried to grab the ball out of the air but it disappeared before he could. Ridgedog then orientated himself into more of a standing position but kept levitating. The ball was now hovering above his left hand, spinning in a mocking manner. Xephos tried not to show how annoyed this made him but the cavern flared blue with his embarrassment.  
‘What do you want now, Ridge?’ Xephos placed a hand on his hip in distaste. These visits were now becoming a chore.

‘Oh, you know, the usual. I want you to see that the world outside is dying and that you have the technology to save it but you aren’t,’ Ridgedog seemed to spit his words with an uncharacteristic sting. Ridge was known for a love of chaos but the thing he caused chaos in was dying. His being in YogLabs was selfish but he wanted to save the world as much as Kirin did.

‘That old thing. Ridge, when are you going to get in your thick skull that I don’t care? Let the world go to shit around me because my world is here in YogLabs.’  
‘So home is now white walls and a bed crammed into an office? I thought you hated all that stuff. What about your dreams of retirement and the plans that you made? You wanted to leave this life behind. Now look at you - stuck here preening your precious clones to do your bidding and for what? What exactly is the end goal here?’ during this speech, Ridgedog had landed and made the ball vanish. His face started to wilt, loosened in some nostalgic reverie. Ridgedog didn’t often show weakness but this was a drastic time and drastic measures were needed.

Xephos was unaffected. ‘Dreams change Ridge. You of all people should know’ The animosity between the two men was apparent, even to the clueless Sjin. The original Will had known Xephos for a long time before YogLabs had happened and this clone had kept all the memories. He, therefore, understood the origins of the jagged rift between the alien and the demi-god but it didn’t mean that he understood the reasons behind it. All Strife wanted was for the demi-god to leave so that he could get back to work managing this massive section of the facility and be content once again. Sjin just wanted to go back to his own lab in which he was starting to tap into a new form of magic based heavily on the life force of flowers. He dared not tell Xephos for fear of being expelled from the only place he could remember feeling at home.

Ridgedog almost broke from that comment. His face had now truly wilted into the sadness that he wanted to show. It was an emotion that he had taught himself to not feel after years of immortality getting in the way of meaningful relationships. Xephos’s cloning system, when there was free reign for use, allowed for people to be semi immortal, freezing their current form and allowing them to live for as long as they want. This then meant that the true immortals - like Kirin Ridgedog, and Lying – could finally become attached to the people that they watched over. Some of them took this more literally than others.

Ridgedog was now close enough to Xephos to smell the antiseptic that clung to his skin. He sighed as he remembered the days where Xephos smelt of grease, fertilizer and hard work. Now, just being able to be this close to him was prize enough. Ridgedog moved his hand to the side of Xephos’s face in a vain attempt to try and grasp at what was once there. Xephos, out of habit, started to move his head towards the palm of the taller man but remembered who he was at the last second. Ridgedog then turned a delightful shade of embarrassment.

Sjin seemed infatuated by the whole affair. Xephos’s private life was something he rarely spoke of. The time before YogLabs for him seemed distant and unimportant. Strife expected what was going to happen. It was their whole relationship wrapped up into an infantile display of attempted affection. Ridge’s countenance changed then. The sadness he was so sure would work to try and restore Xephos’s candour had melted into the anger of regret. Regret at believing Xephos would have been changed by seeing him after so many years. Regret at hoping that an old flame would be able to spark a fire that would allow Xephos to see the error of his ways. Now, all that was left was the fires smoke, colourless and alien like the body in the lab coat.

‘Fine you want it that way? Have it! Everything that happened must have meant absolutely nothing to you. Zilch! Nada! And you know what? I’m fucking fine with it!’ Exasperated, Ridge let go of his final scraps of sanity, allowing the anger to reach the surface. A displacement of air left Xephos standing looking at the back wall of the expansion. Sighing, he turned back to the two men who had just witnessed the whole affair.

'Sjin, you know what to do'

Gulping, Sjin waved his hand whilst fumbling with his spell book. A man sized hole appear in the magically barrier to allow Xephos through. Sjin then entered the room after, clammy palms faltering with the well - worn pages of his beloved book. Sjin didn't know what he would do what he would do without it. It was the thing that allowed him to channel his magic and without it he would no doubt still be powerful, but he would have no controlled way to release his magic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to say, you can find me on tumblr by the same name as it is on here! So, drop me a message on there or whatever you want ^_^


	3. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Powerful people have a powerful way with words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously what are summaries? 
> 
> TW for blood in this chapter

‘Sjin, don’t scream’, with a mouth full of glove, Sjin decided that screaming would have been in vain. ‘I need to show you something’ 

Sjin attempted to protest through the glove but was spun round to face the demi-god. His hand was pushed to the shorter man’s temple and a hand raised to his. Ridgedog started chanting and, as if the words came from someone beyond himself, Sjin continued the spell. It felt like he was trying to reach a distant memory. The faint, familiar sounds and smells of a time long forgotten to him flooded his senses. The smells of freshly made dirt, peat bogs, and pool chemicals, the feeling of coarse, basic tools in his hands. It was a simpler time before magic had consumed so much of his life. Yes, he could use magic from a very young age, but he had tried to hide it; magic was taboo in law-abiding human society. 

The two men were chanting in tandem now. Sparks flew as excess magic sought an outlet for such a powerful spell. Sjin questioned Ridgedog’s motives for making him remember what his life was like. It seemed like millennia ago that he had lived like this, not the couple of years it had felt like. Sjin smiled at the fond memories and almost wished to go back, but the thought left him as soon as it made its way into his consciousness. 

The landscape changed. Nightmares were fuelled by what the demi-god was showing him. The elf’s old home was covered in sand corrupted with taint. He felt the sensation of falling and flying and crashing, all at once, over and over. 

The purple wound its way around the marble and stone brick skyscraper, holding it within its maw. Sjin’s eyes stung with tears that he couldn’t wipe away. The binding of Ridgedog’s spell was much stronger than anything he had ever experienced. Resistance was futile. The old logo, once a bright beacon of home, now glowed an ethereal purple which reeked of dark magics. The old legends told of a sand that was created to wash away the taint, but that became a plague itself. Now it seemed as if the two had joined forces into a macabre dance, intent of waltzing their way towards oblivion. 

Sjin was suddenly torn back to the new area of the archives. Heart pounding against his chest in a bid to escape the vision, or whatever that was. Ridgedog was standing in front of him still, face holding a stony countenance. Sjin looked to the shorter man in shock. He was dumbstruck. They stood like that, just staring, until Ridgedog broke the silence. 

'Now you've seen it, what do you think?'

'Seen what? All I've seen is my worst nightmare Ridgedog! I've seen my years of hard work destroyed and the things I care about the most no more than a tainted mess! What was I even supposed to see?' Sjin wanted to scream at the demi-god, but he couldn't bring his voice to rise above the lump in his throat. 

'What I just showed you was in real time. I gave you a view of the world that Xephos would never let you see because his head is stuck too far up his own ass for him to care about anyone but himself,' Ridgedog waited a beat, calming himself, 'however, with you, you had projects of your own. Xephos always tagged along with someone else's idea because he never wanted to be in power... but he always wanted to be in control. Your ideas were all from your own sweat and blood. But now, now it's all gone.'

'But what's this got to do with me? I'm only a mage! I barely remember what even happened outside.' Sjin's knuckles turned white around his spell book. 

'That's because he doesn't want you to remember. He needs to keep all of you under control otherwise there would be a riot heading straight towards his lab. You can change this; you can help! Why do you think the government left this all those years ago? Do you think they just up and left because they felt like it? No! Of course not!' Ridgedog had started to float, emotions flaring in displays of magic rippling across his skin. 

'It's what I was always told! Xephos always told us this...' Sjin started to feel heavy with the new information. He sunk to his knees to try and keep from fainting. 

'He told you that? The bastard!' Ridgedog's outburst caused the cavernous space to pulsate with magic, tendrils of lightning crawling up the wall to fizzle out at the roof’s apex. Sjin didn't flinch, too shocked to respond. He automatically created a bubble around him to protect himself from imminent danger. Having used magic for so long now, it was second nature for protection spells to be part of his ‘fight or flight’ response. 

'It's lies, it's all lies,' Sjin managed to sputter out. Ridgedog landed and crouched in front of the mage. He almost felt sorry for him, but he was on a mission and this now blubbering mage was not his top priority. 

'The real reason for the government leaving was the taint. Like everywhere else it took over. Too many people using Thaumcraft without due care and diligence to what they were actually causing and Mother managed to get a grip on this world. The sand didn't work and became its own disease. Xephos found a way around this. I don't know how but, by some miracle, he did, and cured what is now known as Yoglabs and protected it from either force ever getting close to it again. Now you see why I need him? I can't work this out on my own,' Ridgedog felt he owed the elf an explanation for what was the truth, not blurred propaganda shoved down these poor clones’ throats. 

‘Taint… I thought that the… I didn’t know that with the sand...’ Sjin’s brain started to hurt. False memories conflicting with new information caused something to break inside of him. Suddenly calm, Sjin stood up. He looked at the demi-god, this new paragon of supposed truth, and nodded. He knew that Ridgedog had given him the spell he needed to do. He didn’t know how, he just knew. The protection spells that he used were no longer in his memory, but how to remove them now was. 

Powerful magic requires powerful catalysts. This was the first thing Sjin learnt from the Old Mages. Sjin held out his hand, not making eye contact with demi-god. He was too focused. His eyes glazed over with an aquamarine glow, the power now palpable. Ridgedog conjured a knife and slit the palm of his hand, clenching it into a ball to drop blood onto Sjin’s; a demi-god’s blood gave Sjin all the power he needed. The blood, now pulsing with power and glowing the same aquamarine as Sjin’s eyes, started to form spheres and arched above his head. The spheres started to break apart, flying off in all directions to take down the magic that protected the facility. 

Ridgedog could feel the power draining, enough for him to get in. He spared a thought for Kirin, wondering whether or not he would try and gain access to YogLabs. He didn’t care though - Kirin would teleport his way in here and tell Xephos exactly what he had told him. It was fruitless for Kirin to even try, but the fact that he would try to get through to Xephos amused him. 

Sjin suddenly fell to the floor, a mess of robes and discharging magic. His nose was bleeding from the strain of carrying out such a powerful spell. Ridgedog rested his hand on Sjin’s shoulder as a silent appreciation. Then, without a second thought, Ridgedog teleported away, leaving Sjin alone in the archives. The walls suddenly darkened and melted away whilst the floor moved up to greet him. 

Later, Sjin woke up and dusted himself off. His head was filled with the lethargy that always followed the exhaustion of challenging magic. His eyes widened with the sudden realisation of what he had done. He had committed a cardinal sin. He didn’t know whether Xephos was capable of killing, but he knew that he was capable of much worse. He started to panic, his magic willing to help with whatever needed doing. Instead of doing anything he felt would be useful, he burst into tears. 

He felt as if he was betrayed by Ridgedog, even if he did do the spell. Ridgedog was known to be the god of chaos; he had held out the silver pieces and urged him to play Judas in this strange scientific religion. Yoglabs may come to an end because of him. He needed to get up, he needed to move. Warning Xephos about what he had done was the only thing he could do; throw himself on the mercy of his superior and hope that his honesty would save him. He summoned an orb of light to search for his beloved spell book. With it in hand, he teleported away. He needed to find Xephos, and fast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thanks for reading and once again, you can find me on tumblr at allhailgrilledcheesus.tumblr.com if you wanna chat and stuff! I will take prompts and things because, despite what was said, uni is kinda boring right now...


	4. Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Xephos and Will part ways, for two different reasons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is really short that's why there are two in one day :D

Xephos, having stood with deportment, finally allowed himself to slump. Usually, he would mind if one of the clones saw him like this - weak and obviously drained. However, Sjin was staring at the back wall with his hand outstretched, chanting in a language long forgotten, and Strife knew Xephos well enough to not tell anyone what had transpired. Composing himself after his momentary lapse in concentration, Xephos walked back the way they came. Strife followed suit after a final look towards Sjin, who had stopped chanting and was staring confused into thin air, and wondered what the consequences were to Xephos’s mental health.

The ride back to the main facility was as silent as the first. Strife shifted in the minecart, hyperaware of the sharp edges of the seat. He needed to get someone to try and alter these for longer journeys. Not everyone can teleport like Sjin, he muttered to himself. Ridge’s outburst was a stuck record in Strife’s mind. Xephos was a man of few words but he should never play poker unless he wanted to lose everything; Ridgedog had an effect on him that he would never admit. 

Back to what was left of “civilisation”, if one were to believe Ridgedog, Xephos stretched to try and rid himself of the aches and pains of the last couple of hours. Stress was a part of everyday life for Xephos - so much so that he had forgotten what a good night’s sleep was like. Strife had accompanied his boss to the surface as he still had business to do up there. Last time Xephos’s compulsion to see Ridgedog had interrupted his very important business of sneaking around to try and find that cute haematologist that helped with the last physical Strife had to endure. The Yoglabs policy for workplace relationships was a massive grey area due to certain clones in simulation. However, a relationship with the clones that were actually employed within could end messily. There were several different versions of the same ‘person’ employed at any one time within this hulk of a facility. Ergo, the sheer size of the place and some careful planning on Xephos’ part made it nigh on impossible for two clones of the same person to meet. In the worst case scenario, one clone could meet another without recognition, and the paperwork that would ensue would leave Xephos more sleep deprived than before. 

Strife sulked off towards the main entrance, heading towards the medical bay. Xephos pretended he didn’t know what was happening but spared a smile for his old friend. He may not have been the same person that he went to university with, but this version still deserved happiness, no matter what version he was. Chuckling, Xephos reread the data on his clipboard for the umpteenth time that day. It was a long walk to his lab but it would allow him to mull over the events of the archives. Ridgedog was so infuriating sometimes but good god the nostalgia was overwhelming. The memories of marble skyscrapers and apiaries hit him like a tonne of bricks. He exhaled the old thoughts with one final sigh. He was not going to let memories of a past life cloud his judgement on this day. Emotions had gotten in the way before too many times before; clinical accuracy was the only way forwards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's up for some parvill fluff? Because that's happening next chapter!!!


	5. Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So a maintenance man and a scientist walk into a lab...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is basically Parvill fluff which has nothing at all to do with the plot, but I will go down with this ship! 
> 
> TW for blood

Strife breathed a sigh of relief as he walked as fast as he could towards the medical research wing of YogLabs. The nerves left the back of his throat dry and his palms became clammy at the thought of actual interaction. His breathing intensified as the adrenaline ran through his blood. Strife suddenly understood why it was called a stress response. 

Once in sight of the doors of the wing, Strife froze in the middle of the corridor. A testificate honked in annoyance from bumping into him but Strife was too focused on trying to control his breathing. It felt as if some small animal was trying to get out of his chest by repetitively throwing all its weight against his sternum. Will Strife never got nervous. Will Strife was better than that. He tried calming himself down with thinking of the job at hand within the archives. Xephos’ obsession with having physical copies of everything as well as an internal computer network meant that Strife’s job was always much more stressful than it needed to be. Little did he know that another version of him dealt with the computer system that ran in tandem with his archive. 

With a slap to the face and a deep breath, Strife managed to pull one rooted foot from the marble floor and place it in front of the other, repeating the process until he was walking as normally as he could. Upon reaching the doors, he stepped on the pressure pad to open them but the delay of the redstone caused him to walk face first into the solid metal. When they opened, a very unconscious Strife fell limply to the floor at the feet of the haematologist he was trying to see. 

The taller man spent a beat waiting for his brain to catch up with what his eyes had already seen, and then proceeded to cackle like a maniac for a solid minute before composing himself and realising that he probably had to help the man. With some resignation - because the thought of seeing this man wake up on the floor with the most disgruntled expression would be priceless - the scientist lifted the dead weight of the smaller man into a position which was very uncomfortable but efficient enough to get him dragged to a bed. Thankfully, it was a day of spring cleaning within his research lab so there wasn’t as much blood around as there could have been. Some days, the floor became a canvas upon which a rather unskilled artist painted only with red.

With a thump, the unconscious man was now face down on a bed which posed a problem unto itself. With some consideration and running his hand over his stubbled chin, he decided the best thing to do was the old table flip trick. Finding another bed, he pushed it adjacent to the occupied one and pulled the sheets from under the unconscious man in an attempt to flip him over. This sensation, however, woke the victim and an inelegantly high squeal broke out from the back of his throat. The room lit up with emerald embarrassment, and the taller man resumed his cackling fit from earlier. Strife crumpled up his face and winced when the movement sent a pain shooting up through his head. Delicately tracing his nose, Strife deduced that he had, if fact, broken his nose. His mouth opened in hopes of voicing a protestation to the laughter but was interrupted by a phenol-soaked swab gently cleaning the wound. The laughter continued throughout this process but the man was gentle enough. Strife had managed to calm himself down, but the glow remained. 

The scientist worked meticulously so as not to hurt this new arrival who had just rocked up and literally fallen at his feet. He would be lying if he said that he hadn’t taken a sample of his blood from the floor before helping him. Luminous green blood doesn’t cross a heamatologist's path very often. 

Some bandages and a pained hiss later, Strife was patched up rather haphazardly but at least the bleeding had stopped. Strife let out a humiliated sigh. If it weren’t for his teenage promiscuity, he wouldn’t have a broken nose and some tall, dark, and handsome guy snickering at him every time he sniffed. 

“Parvis”

“Parvis?” Strife was taken aback by the forwardness of the conversation starter. 

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out,” Strife turned away to conceal his blush as if he’d been pulled straight from a Jane Austen novel. “Or you can, if you want.” The wink that followed changed the glow almost to incandescence. 

“Oh well, I’m, uh…” Strife couldn’t catch up with his runaway thoughts and his mouth decided to show it.

“You’re Will Strife, from the archives, right? You came here a couple of months ago for your last physical and after the display there I guessed you would be back” A smug grin spread across Parvis’ face. Memories of faltered sentences and refusals to be near needles encroached on Strife’s spiraling state of mind. 

Composing himself, Strife finally managed to spit out a sentence, “ Yes. Nice to see you remembered me.” Floundering around was something Strife had never experienced. He was always the cool and sophisticated seducer whilst the object of his affections melted into his words. This was something new, and perhaps not altogether pleasant. It was an uncomfortable newness. Strife didn’t deal well with situations that he could not control. 

“How could I forget a pretty little face like yours, hm?” Parvis’ elevator eyes made Strife turn away in some attempt to shield himself. This was too much for him to take. Knocking himself unconscious had given this ‘Parvis’ character the upper hand and loosened his grip on the entire situation. 

‘Anyway,’ Strife coughed in a feeble attempt to avert Parvis’ stare and disentangle himself from this uneasy conversation. ‘Do you like coffee, perchance?’ 

Parvis laughed in such a disarming way, it made Strife smile just hearing the outburst. ‘Direct much?’ 

Strife persisted, ignoring the snide comment. ‘That didn’t answer my question, Parvis’

‘It just so happens I only like coffee in the presence of a cute guy with blonde hair and surprisingly bright blood’ Parvis flashed the little sample bottle like a child showing off a project to a parent. Strife opened his mouth to protest but was silenced by the taller man’s eyes. He knew, deep down, that this man was going to be his downfall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't really seen that much parvill recently so have this ^_^.
> 
> Get your buts ready for everyone's favourite cannibal next chapter!


	6. Unexpected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lalnable was used to being alone...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry for this being so late! Uni has been hectic D:

Lalnable led a solitary existence. He was used to it by now, but it didn’t mean that his blood lust could ever quite be sated. He was kept for experimentation only, mostly biopsy with local anaesthetic and for sequencing. Xephos liked have the defective ones around. Lalnable liked to think it was for his wit, but the better half of him said that he liked to experiment a bit more than he liked to admit. 

So when a new face turned up, Lalnable's curiosity was piqued. Xephos never let up with his ruthless experimentation, and it was only ever him that arrived. This new face... well, he wasn't sure what to make of it. Sandy hair was pulled into what once was a perfect quiff, now fly-aways littered the landscape. A strong jaw with amber eyes, desperate and angry, was looking down on the clone, which intrigued Lalnable. A lean body, much taller than Lalnable could ever hope to be, he silently damned his genetics and the pot-luck of code that all of the Lalna’s had for giving him disadvantageous genes. Having to double-take his new companion, Lalnable noticed that he was in fact floating off the ground, velvet coat now crumpled and used. 

“You’re that Lalna clone right?” This new man was going to be tiresome, Lalnable could tell, even if the way he was floating made him want to ask questions and possibly cut him open a little bit, seeing as there was no ring on his finger that looked like a flying ring, no jetpack noises and no distinct shimmer of a cloaked power suit. It seemed as if the man was floating of his own accord, even though Lalnable knew this to be an impossibility.The only people who could fly unassisted were in fairy tales. This only made his thirst for answers for grow stronger. 

“Well, if you know who ‘that Lalna’ guy is, you should be able tell who I am, plus…” indignantly, Lalnable pointed his finger towards the very obvious name tag on the outside of his glass prison. The man bared his teeth in annoyance, boy this was going to be fun. 

“You helped build this place, or at least a version of you did,” he was now floating back and forth in front of the cell, speaking more for his own benefit than anyone elses. “one of you used to be the lead scientist. You theorised the clones. You set him off on this path,” Sparks flew across this man’s skin, magic was something he never trusted, so seeing it this close and personal made him shy away into the corner of the glass cube. The agitation in the floating man was palpable. 

“Him? You mean Xephos?” The floating man’s eyes widened at the mention of the name. Lalnable made a mental note of that weak spot. “Yeah, one of me helped, a long time ago mind you” Lalnable leaned back, slightly more relaxed now knowing he was in a position of power. This man wanted something from him, and he was going to exploit this to work out how the hell this man flew. 

“A long time ago still means that you can remember what happened,” the desperation was dripping off every word, agitation causing the air to be thick and cloying. 

“Seeing as you know who I am, I feel as if if i should know who you are. We are entering a mutually beneficial relationship here.” Might as well let him know what I want out of this, he seems desperate enough to do anything I say. The man seemed confused at the statement, reluctant to lose some power, he confessed: 

“Ridgedog.”

Lalnable was taken aback. He remembered the name. Or rather, he remembered the stories. The ones which were told to children in the dark of night to keep them in line. The demi-gods, the ones who could create and destroy with just a mere thought, the ones which meddled with the mortals for their own personal entertainment.

He remembered the rumours from when he was younger. The demi-god that got too invested with the mortals. A certain group which caught his attention and became his playthings. But he’d gotten attached, too attached, to one of them. It was common enough for the demi-gods to use humans as a source of pleasure, everyone has their primal needs after all. This one had stayed for someone who they had deemed too precious to just use and abuse. The rumours say that he fell in love. It was their one fatal mistake. 

‘I am, well, I guess you could say I’m in front of a legend, in a sorts,’ Lalnable run his hand over his chin, trying to take in this new information. 

The demi-god’s chest puffed out minutely, conspicuously proud of being recognised, even by this waste of genetic code. ‘Yes. It seems my reputation precedes me then. Does this make you want to help me with what I want?’ 

‘Maybe, if you just answer me one question.’ Lalnable sat down on the floor, elbows on his knees and steepled his fingers. This payment was going to be glorious. Information, in his mind, was always worth more than diamonds or emeralds. Sometimes, it could even be worth more than the old red matter substance or UU matter or whatever was the fashionable thing for all the old clones to get so obsessed over. The days before YogLabs, or was it during? Lalnable could never remember. Experimentation did funny things to memory. 

‘Go on then, shoot.’ Ridgedog had stopped his pacing and had settled slightly, standing facing Lalnable almost at parades rest but with one hip cocked in a brash (?) manner. He had no idea what was going to be asked, but he was too far gone to not get help now. As the old cliche goes, desperate times call for desperate measures. 

'Why?'

It was only a simple word but it caused so much to happen. Ridgedog sank to his knees, eyes open wide and glazed over as memories broke through the floodgates. Memories of the happiest times of his long, long life. Memories of marble and stone bricks, of steel structures and world ending bombs, of space travel and magic. Lalnable looked on in a combination of confusion and boredom. He was always curious about what happened when people felt for others. Empathy was never his strong suit. 

Ridgedog didn't answer for a long while, too caught up in his thoughts. But when he spoke it was slow and deliberate. 

'I was stupid. I didn't think. I fell into it all head first without thinking about the consequences. I never saw any of this happening. That's why.'   
Lalnable shrugged. He was more in it to see something so powerful fall to pieces because of one lowly spaceman than he was to get an actual answer. 

'Fine. That's good enough for me. Now, there's just the small matter of getting me out...' Lalnable's gaze fell to the biometric lock of his cell. Xephos was the only person who had the capacity to open Lalnable's cell, not that he ever would. It took years to get him in there so why would he ever let him out? 

Ridgedog looked at the panel and the door opened. Lalnable need to get this demi-god on an operating table to work out how his magic worked. A more unfortunate Sjin clone underwent the same fate and it still left questions unanswered. Having this source of unbridled magical power would be so much more useful for experimentation than some watered - down elf magic. 

Lalnable looked cautiously at the now open door. It had been years of sitting inside this cell, watching Xephos poke and prod around with whatever he was doing, all the while being powerless to his scientific whims. Now, this powerful being had given him freedom. He could run if he wanted, Xephos must be distracted if Ridgedog had managed to get this far into YogLabs without being caught by security. Running seemed like the best option, but he had a job to do. Ridgedog asked him for help but Lalnable was going to use this for revenge. The clone archives were heavily protected but with this floating man on his team, the crazed scientist could get anywhere in YogLabs without the fear of being caught.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so the plot thickens! Thank you all for reading, seeing the hits go up really makes my day ^_^


	7. Experiments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing can ever stand in the way of progress

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's where those archive warnings come in guys!!! Just a heads up...
> 
> I would like to thank my A level in Biology for the random science in this part

Arriving at his lab, Xephos took off his off-white lab coat in favour of something slightly more blood stained. Xephos wished that blood didn’t stain the way it did. White seemed a poor choice of colour for lab coats, considering how messy experimentation could get. The red of his old coat had never showed anything like this. 

The defective clone was pressed up against the glass in indignation. Protestations filled the air as Xephos tried to arrange his thoughts into some semblance of order. This kink in the genetic code is going to take a while to write out. The only way in cloning to ensure that something is written out of the code is to keep defective clones in isolation so that their data cannot be mixed into the database. 

Xephos pressed a button and quiet hissing filled the gaps between the beatings. The banging on the glass got weaker and the slumped clone was now at an uncomfortable angle on the perspex. With a snap of latex gloves, Xephos moved to the entrance of the cube. With an iris scan, he was let in. A blood sample and a quick physical later, Xephos was close and personal with some endonucleases in order to sequence what was wrong within this clones genetic code. as he was always taught, repeat what you do until you have convinced yourself that you have got it right. 

The clone by the end of the sequencing process was beginning to wake up. A groan followed by the sound of bones cracking filed the dead air. The next noise was less pleasant. Xephos worked through the screams until the clone seemed to have calmed itself down or possibly acclimated to its new surroundings. The clones hand kept rubbing where the blood sample was taken, obviously aware of something wrong but not quite sure of what it was. Wide eyes remained darting around the room, confused and searching for an escape from their transparent prison. Xephos wrote all of this down, it would be useful to see whether the issue was the DRD4 gene that he thought would add some excitement to the mix. risk taking was something that he had thought would benefit the overall cloning programme, in a hope to see what was happen during simulation if one clone were to have an increase in risk taking and another were to have a decrease. However, it would seem that from this testing, messing with this part of brain chemistry is changing something far deeper than what was first anticipated. Again, Xephos took notes on his initial findings and a note to his future self to not mess with the brain this much again. this was far too much hassle. 

The familiar displacement of air that he felt at the beginning of the day happened again. one more sigh was added to the atmosphere, seeing as this day was getting more exasperating than what he anticipated. Getting out of bed this morning (if one could call sleeping at your desk a bed), Xephos did not want to have defective genetics and caviling demi-gods to deal with. 

'Right, so, clone #412, delusions of an alternate world, confusion about names, heightened aggression...' Xephos pondered aloud in order to let him think more clearly. 

The Honeydew clone had calmed down by this point so being able to get more coherent answers from him would be easier from now on. 

'You insisted on calling me Lewis, took down 3 of the security team, and insisted that Yoglabs wasn't real. I wonder which part of your brain is making these delusions happen…’ Xephos was mildly concerned by the fact that the once vocal clone was now not talking, but decided that he might be silent due to fear of what might happen to him rather than anything else.

Xephos stretched before returning to his microscope, an unresponsive clone may not be useful for checking whether or not the clone was psychologically stable enough to only change the DRD4 gene but it would have to do. 

A conical flask fell off the desk behind him, smashing. No one was supposed to be in here. This was Xephos’s place and his place only. No other members of staff had access to this lab. A face appeared in front of him, a man he had thought could not be free. 

‘Remember me?’

The last thing Xephos saw was a white labcoat being pushed out the way by a man in a velvet tailcoat. Then…

Black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry... i'm allhailspoopycheesus.tumblr.com right now because of halloween so if you wanna come and rant at me that's fine...


	8. Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A forms two hydrogen bonds to T. C forms three hydrogen bonds to G. A bonds with U only in mRNA.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who likes science? I like science!

Lanable and Ridgedog left the only room Lalnable had seen for many years and entered the searing white of the corridor. The smell of the antiseptic made him crinkle his nose but it smelt like home. Ridgedog had an air of nervous energy nearly pulsating off him that made Lalnable’s first moments of freedom a bit less enjoyable than they should be. With one final breath in, the unlikely pair made their way towards the where the clones were, or at least where they used to be, Lalnable prayed that Xephos hadn’t changed where they were. 

Ridgedog followed obediently, trying his best not float off the ground and walk normally. Lalnable tried in vain to create idle small talk but Ridgedog felt that if he opened his most he might scream, cry, or do both at the same time. This was officially one of the stupidest ideas he had ever had. Why was he enlisting the help of the one clone that he knew was unstable. One of the many failures that he kept in order to improve the process. It made Ridgedog shudder at the thought. 

Thankfully no testificates paid the pair any attention. Lalnable knew that he was identical to one of the leading figures of YogLabs but he thought that Ridgedog might have turned some faces. Xephos was strict with who he let into and out of YogLabs, so new faces always caused quite a stir. Little did Lalnable know was that Ridgedog was only visible to him. So, if Lalnable decided to speak to the demigod, he would be seemingly speaking to thin air. Thankfully neither of the pair was particularly talkative. The tension in the air prevented conversation from ever being a worry. Lalnable stayed quiet because he was afraid of going back to what he had left behind. Ridgedog was afraid because of what was ahead. 

After several minutes of strained silence, the unlikely duo arrived at where Lalnable remembered the clones to be. 

‘Hope to God that he still keeps them here,’ Lanable muttered to himself, too low for Ridgedog to hear. He gestured towards the door, and the click of a lock opening. The two men entered the room, Ridgedog giving up on walking and returning to floating. He was too nervous to actually conceal his power anymore. 

The lights came on automatically one row at a time, illuminating the wall in front of them. The room was vast and clinical. Ivory walls contrasted with the dark colours of the cloning vats. The clones were stacked in columns of 10 going back into what seemed like an infinity. Each row was designated to a person. Lalnable recognised some of them but a few were new faces to him. Why has Xephos taken to cloning walruses and slimes? It makes no sense… Lalnable’s thought were racing but he was brought back down to earth by Ridgedog suddenly walking over and tapping on the glass of one of the tanks.

‘NO!’ Lanable rushed forwards, taking care not to fall down the steps. ‘You can’t tap on the glass! This clone will now be practically useless!’ Lalnable found an old possessiveness returning. This was his old pet project afterall. or, at least, a version of him. Ridgedog turned away, looking as nonchalant as he could be. It was a shame really, this clone was nearly done.

‘Right, the master clones are a strictly no touch kind of thing’ Lalnable explained, ‘Because if you mess those up, this whole place comes down.’ Ridgedog brushed him off with the wave of his hand.

‘Yeah, whatever. So, where are these master clones exactly?’ Ridgedog started to fly up and look at each of the clones individually. They all looked so peaceful whilst in stasis. He found the one who looked like Lalnable. This was clone #10201 according to the monitor next to the cloning vat. Ridgedog giggled to himself, unable to stop himself from a little bit of mischief. He was known as the god of chaos, afterall. He let a little bit of his anxious magic work its way into the vat and the clone took on a slight iridescence. With one final chuckle, he floated back down to where Lalnable was looking up at him, seemingly very annoyed. 

‘What did you just do?’

‘Nothing to harm it, don’t you worry your deranged little noggin about it,’ Ridgedog put on his most disarming smile. He never did understand why mortals thought that smiling was a happy thing. In any other species, baring teeth is seen as a sign of aggression. 

Lalnable shook his head and gestured to the panel on the wall. The door it was attached to was inconspicuous. Just like any other door in YogLabs. Little did the clones and testificates know that the most valuable resource in all of YogLabs, and possibly the whole world if Ridgedog was to be believed. The soft click of the door unlocking filled the silence and Lanable walked into the room and nearly started crying. He knew these emotions were not his own but the sight of the clones made him well up all the same. Years of work were poured into this damn project and the fact that Xephos had got it up and running made this almost the proudest moment of his life. He shook his head, remembering that it wasn’t him who created this. It was the guy who was in the cloning vat that actually did all of that, Lalnable was just the failed first attempt, still being used to work out the kinks in the process. 

The master clones were all in their pods, much more protected than the standard ones in the room, with screens next to them, glowing green and showing the clone’s vitals. Lalnable resisted the urge to try and manage them, like a version of him used to do in years passed. He was here for a much more sinister reason. This was something he had never done before. Well, he technically had done it, but not to this extent. What Ridgedog was asking him to do was the taboo beyond taboos. 

‘Well, I don’t see him’, Ridgedog was pace-floating around the room, looking more and more frantic by the second. It was strange, admittedly. Xephos’s clone should be there, but he also noticed that Honeydew’s clone was missing too. This wasn’t strange. Xephos was known for being overly cautious with things so precious to him, so the very conspicuous blackout curtain towards the rear of the room immediately drew his attention. Stupid bastard. I guess old habits die hard.

Ridgedog noticed where his companion’s eyes went to and rushed to pull back the curtain. Here, two clones, more beautifully preserved than any of the others. He was still in his old space uniform, the one where it all started so many years ago. That was a cruel touch, in Ridgedog’s eyes, but he supposed it was their purest forms. 

‘Do what you’ve got to do,’ Ridgedog turned away from the one he used to call his, for this clone would be closer to who made him make those mistakes all those years ago than that husk who walks the halls now. Lanable smiled, almost too enthusiastically for what he was about to do. Cracking his knuckles, he walked over to the console and started typing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Extra brownie points if you guy can name which clone Ridge messed with? Things are starting to get interesting, eh?


	9. Confusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where am I?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is very short, sorry it's the only logical place to break!

Searing pain flushed through his head as he woke up. Bright lights assaulted his eyes and the quiet hum of machines was a painful scratch with this monster of a headache. Was he hungover? Did he end up in hospital after a night out? Wow, it must of been one hell of a night if he had dreamt that he was actually in Yoglabs. 

His eyes adjusted to the light and a suddenly feeling of dread filled him. This wasn’t a hospital. Last time he checked, hospitals did not house their patients in perspex cubes. Panic began to set in. He stood up, failing around with shorter legs. Why was he so short now? No time to think about that, just try to get Lewis’s attention. The man hunched over the microscope looked a bit like Lewis but he had pointy ears and a beard that the man could never hope to grow. 

‘Lewis! Lewis!’ He was going to punch on the perspex until his fists bled if it meant that he was going to be able to get out of her. How can something that’s transparent feel so enclosed? Hissing filled his ears and he was asleep again.

He awoke again, not knowing how long he slept, but he remembered. he was trapped, the man he could see was not Lewis, and he was considerably shorter than he should be. He got up again to start banging his fists on the glass when he noticed two new men in the room. He squinted his eyes and moved closer to the wall of his cage. One of the men looked like Duncan in more of a mad scientist sort of way and the other, well, he didn’t recognise at all. This was all so confusing. Why was he still hallucinating? The man who looked like Duncan put a finger to his lips, a universal symbol but somehow, coming from this man it was more threatening than he thought a single gesture could ever be. 

The next events all happened so quickly. Metal glinted in this pseudo-Duncan’s hand as he walked around in front of the pseudo-Lewis, who at this point was sitting in front of a microscope. Blue eyes lit up in horrifying recognition at the man now standing in front of him. The headache returned again because of the stress of the situation. He didn’t like how this was going. Worry knotted his stomach. 

‘Remember me?’ 

Pseudo-Lewis stood up, eyes still wide with fear and a plea started to form on his lips. Before he could do anything, blue blood started to stain the work surfaces and all he could do from inside the cube was pass out for the third time in possibly as many hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, up until now everything was written and it was all hunky dory. However, I'm actually in the process of writing the next chapter (which I think is the last) and it's turning out to be a bit of a beast. I might split it into two smaller ones because there is a logical break. I don't know whether I prefer one big chapter or two smaller ones... Oh well!! We'll just wait and see ^_^


	10. Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What goes arounf comes around...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW fo death and emotional manipullation in this one... sorry folks

Ridgedog shuddered. Xephos’s lifeless body slumped in his arms. The haemocyanin was staining the once clean floor a deep blue. in all his days, Ridgedog had never cried to see this much blood pour out of a body, normally his face would be drawn up into laughter, pulled down with anger, or blank with indifference. Today was the exception to the rule. All rules seemed pointless even if the better part of him told him that the corpse he had embraced wasn’t the end of it all.

Tears flowed freely and plentiful down the channels of his face, seeking the subject of his grief as if in a vain attempt to wash away what was done. It was only a matter of time before the consequences of his actions would rear their heads so all he needed was to wait. He kept telling himself that this was for the best. Changing this original Xephos to something new would give them both a new start, right? The fact that he was doubting himself let him know that that he was in the wrong. His morals were compromised by his own selfish needs. He had spent years trying to get Xephos to change his mind about this wretched place and here he was enacting the very thing he despised. 

Lalnable started to wipe the blade on his clothes, seemingly not caring about the fact that they were going to be stained blue. He started to laugh then. He didn’t hold back, keeping going until they were nothing more than silent heaves with tears running down his face. 

‘Free… FREE!’ Lalnable continued laughing, much quieter now. Ridgedog ignored this, still weeping over the lifeless body in his hands. The Honeydew clone was still passed out within his cell. It was probably for the best, seeing as someone came bursting through the door to this scene of hysteria. 

‘XEPHOS!’ Sjin burst into the room, magic radiating off him in a stressed aura. His eyes darted around, looking for the man he needed to warn of his mistakes. Why did Xephos have to have his lab right at the back of the facility. Sjin couldn’t teleport there because he had never seen the place before. Sometimes Xephos’s reclusiveness had it’s advantages, this was not one of those times.

Sjin skidded to the floor next to his superior and started chanting, using his magic to try and do some good for once. Deep down he knew that this was his fault. That the scene before him was caused by him listening to the demi-god and compromising the one thing that he was trusted with. Ridgedog just put a hand over his and the magic stopped working. Sjin looked at the man with confusion, Sjin had bought people back from worse, why was he stopping him? The look the withered man gave him was enough. The desperation with a hint of hope let Sjin know that something much deeper was at work here. Something he felt he knew about, but every time he tried to think about it, he got a strange tingle at the base of his skull. 

Back in the cloning bay, a light turned on in one of the vats. A man woke up inside the culture fluid. The systems took over, being used to dealing with new clones and getting them ready for the world of YogLabs or for simulation. 

First, he was taken and washed of the culture fluid. It was a medium which held waste from metabolism and egestion, afterall. Next came clothing, simple black trousers with a striped blue and white t-shirt. The coat which laid neatly next to the basic clothes seemed a bit gaudy, maroon with golden epaulettes and buttons, but for some reason he decided that he liked it. Plain black boots finished off his attire. Lastly was just a file. In it had just one piece of paper, with one word written on it. After reading that, everything came flooding back and the man fainted. 

He awoke later in a bed, in a familiar office. He sat up, reaching to his right for a glass of water that he always kept there. The office felt colder than usual, but he just attributed it to the time of year. July was the chilly month, right? He shook it off and wandered over to his desk. The beautiful mahogany made him chuckle, reminding him of simpler times. He ran his hand along it before sitting down in the leather chair tucked into it. He steepled his fingers and leant his elbows on the desk before turning to the keyboard. He turned it on and started doing work but each time he tried to do something, he got an annoying niggle that sat at the back of his head. Each time he tried to look at statistics or tried to reconfigure finances, the same niggle appeared. Deciding that it was just because he was tired, he went for a walk around YogLabs. The recycled air down here was bound to help. 

This did not help. The niggle kept getting worse and worse the more he remained in the light of the corridors. He remembered that fluorescent lights could give people headaches so he decided to go to some of the biodomes that he knew was in the area. They created sunlight that was so real, many testificates thought that they were actually outside. 

Once entering one of the biodomes, the man stopped dead. 

There was a little brick house, with ivy creeping up the sides and the stereotypical white fence wrapped around its boundaries. It felt… warm. The niggle had left his brain and suddenly he found himself walking up to the gate and pausing. Why did he feel like this? Why did he suddenly feel like this was home? It made no sense. YogLabs was his home, right? He could smell something from inside the house, and it smelt good. Taking a deep breath, the man decided to investigate inside the house. 

He walked up the little path between the fence and the house, all the while the smell was getting stronger, and admired how meticulous (and remarkably familiar) everything seemed to be. He hesitated by the door before bring his hand up to rap on the painted wood. The door opened without him having to actually knock and a familiar face greeted him, just below his eye level. A gap toothed smile framed the other man’s face, like this was the best experience of his entire life.

‘Welcome home!’ The shorter man beamed. The taller man reciprocated the smile, then inhaled, the origin of the smell becoming apparent. A giant apple pie rested on the table in the small room next to the entrance way. 

‘You can have some if you want. I made it for you!’ The taller man looked to the shorter man and practically shoved past him to get to his prize. He hadn’t really eaten all day and the smell was making him positively ravenous. He sat at the head of the table, dragging the pie towards himself. The shorter man just softened his smile, his countenance now a lopsided grin. He moved to lean in the doorway, remembering times from long ago. 

‘Don’t eat too much now, you won’t be able to eat dinner’

The taller man looked up, cheeks stuffed with apple pie, eyes wide with delight. He hadn’t really realised how hungry he was. He returned to the pie, deciding that half of it was for eating now and half of it was for eating later. He felt something at the top of his head. A light pressure that was ever so gentle, and a hand ruffled his hair. The shorter man had made his way into the kitchen now, presumably to serve up dinner. 

The pie was half done in a matter of mere minutes, so the taller man finally looked up at the table. A spread of magnificent food was laid out before him. There was chicken, pork, beef accompanied by the nicest looking roast potatoes and cooked vegetables that the tall man had ever seen. Even after half an apple pie, he was still hungry. He immediately started to put food on the plate that somehow appeared in his hand. He didn’t question this, too enthralled by the look of the food in front of him. The shorter man giggled at his enthusiasm and took the seat to the right of the taller man. 

There was a comfortable silence whilst the taller man ate his fill, including the rest of the apple pie. After the taller man sat back, sighing in contentment at the meal he had just eaten, the shorter man took one of the taller man’s hands in his and looked him dead in the eyes.

‘Do you remember now?’

Suddenly a whole life flashed before the taller man’s eyes. Memories of space and the stars. Recollections of adventure and cities in the sky. Friendship, cakes, laughter, bees, and everything that went in between suddenly flooded the taller man’s mind with one word making it’s way to the front.

Xephos. 

‘Yes… yes I do… Ridge?’

The nickname resonated within Ridgedog, stirring old familiar feelings that were always there at the back of his mind. He ran his thumb across the back of the hand he was holding and smiled even more when he felt the other man squeeze his hand in return. It was almost as if time had been reversed and nothing had changed. The demi-god almost cried. Almost. He had a job to do here after all. 

‘Do you remember what I said? About the outside world?’ Ridgedog looked into the blue eyes he knew so very well, hoping to see some recognition in them. 

‘I… Think so? The sand… and the flux… how did it get this bad? Oh god!’ Xephos stood up from where he was sitting and started pacing. He freed his hand from Ridgedog’s to run it  
through his hair, a nervous habit which remained from years of anxiety living on a new planet. 

Ridgedog stood up with the taller man and looked on, lost for words. It was a rare occasion, and the only times it ever happened was when he was near the spaceman. 

Xephos continued his pacing, walking hole into the floor. He kept muttering to himself, unable to comprehend the memories suddenly coming back to him. He had found a way to deal with everything, yes, but there was no need for him to use it for the rest of the world right? He lived in YogLabs and that’s safe so that’s all that mattered. There is nothing for him on the outside. Everyone he knew was in here, safe in their cloning bays. Even Ridgedog was here now. Rescuing the world was redundant to him. His world was these white walls and the man with the worried expression. Xephos came to his realisation and stopped walking, a wide smile spreading across his face. 

‘But it’s all OK isn’t it? We don’t need to worry about the flux or the sand or anything that affects the outside world! Hell, we don’t even need to worry about the Government anymore because the world is basically destroyed! Hah!’ Xephos walked over to Ridgedog and planted a short kiss on his lips. Ridgedog stood there, shocked at the sudden outburst. He didn’t return the kiss, eyes wide and sad with realisation. 

‘It didn’t work. Number 104 was a failure. Lalnable, start changing the code again.’ Ridgedog’s eyes grew misty. He thought that after so many of these trial and error tests that he would be able to get through this without any emotion. 

‘Wait, what? Who are you talking to? What’s happening? Ridge?’ Xephos made the room flare blue. Distress and confusion made his muscles tense and his eyes frantically search the room for a means to escape. Something was off, he could tell now. Everything was too good to be true. He chastised himself for thinking things could have been better than they were now. How dare he expect to be able to live a normal life? He was never destined for that, he understood that now. 

Ridgedog walked over to Xephos, taking the taller man’s hand in his own and leading him towards another room of the house. Xephos tried to break free but the demi-god’s grip was too strong. They both ascended the stairs, both in different states of despair. One despairing for failure, the other despairing because of a lack of escape. The shorter man stopped the pair in front of a door, just to the right of the to of the staircase, and opened the door to reveal a bedroom identical to the one they used to share together all those moons ago. Xephos’ heart skipped a beat at the sight. Ridgedog let go of his hand then, leaving the spaceman in the door as he walked over to sit on the bed. 

When Ridgedog sat down, he motioned for Xephos to join him. Reluctantly, the spaceman moved to sit next to the demi-god, his back ramrod straight. Ridgedog turned to the man beside him and kissed his cheek, hoping that he could be forgiven for the umpteenth time in his existence. Xephos turned to try and make that kiss something more, his lips ghosting over the other man’s. He didn’t understand why he wanted to kiss the demi-god so much, but he knew he just did. Ridgedog didn’t comply in the way Xephos was hoping him to, but instead started to pepper kisses around the taller man’s face. His forehead, his cheeks, his nose, his jaw. Anywhere but on the mouth. 

Xephos kept trying to bring the attention back to his lips but Ridgedog suddenly tugged on his earlobes with his teeth. Xephos struggled to keep a lewd moan from escaping but the glow in the room showed exactly what he was feeling. 

With a last shuddering breath, Ridgedog whispered two words that he had said more times than he would have liked. He was never one for saying them, but YogLabs changes anyone who dares walk within it’s walls. 

‘I’m sorry,’

With that, number 104 was lifeless in the demi-god’s arms. No tears were spilt this time. Number 103 nearly got him to cry, only because he was so close to having what he wanted. This one, however, was obviously flawed. Lalnable had changed too much between this one and the last. 

‘Lanable, how close is it until the next one is ready?’ Ridgedog had floated down stairs and set about resetting the scene for number 105. 

‘About 2-3 hours tops, don’t worry,’ The voice came into the small earpiece Ridgedog had on. 

With a sigh, Ridgedog floated back upstairs. Ridgedog technically didn’t need sleep, but he found the habit refreshing every so often. He returned to the bedroom and with a snap of his fingers, number 104 was gone. He settled down for his 2 hour nap then and there, making an alarm clock appear beside him to ensure that he woke up in time. 

*

2 hours later in the cloning bay, a light turned on in one of the vats. A man woke up inside the culture fluid. The systems took over, being used to dealing with new clones and getting them ready for the world of YogLabs or for simulation...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I DID IT MUM I WROTE SOMETHING LONNGER THAN 1000 WORDS!!!! Thank you everyone who has read this, you'll be seeing more of me, I hope. What thiss means is that I have something in the works but that won't be coming out for a long time yet.

**Author's Note:**

> I should probably be updating this every couple of days I want to say but maybe not. It really depends on how university is and whether or not I've actually written the next bit because I've written bits out of order.


End file.
